Chasing Ghosts: An Irregular Warfare Podcast

In this episode, I sketch the life and exploits of one of my three Peak Guerrillas from the beginning of the 20th century, German GEN Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck. I want to explore what I consider the next step in guerrilla evolution employing age-old techniques and strategies harnessed to modern technology and employment within the new age of mechanized warfare and not so mechanized warfare as the Allies would discover during their four year campaign against the poorly supported but brilliant innovations and TTP of Lettow-Vorbeck and his Schutztruppe (German for "Protection Force") .

References:

Edward...

It's been quite some time since I have responded to "mail" so I have curated these questions to address:.

Events and Ephemera:

The Arcata Summit in Bozeman 13-14 November 2026

Hearts of Space Subscription Service

References:

Why the M7 is Wrong with Ian McCollum<...

Hybrid warfare is a can of worms, a fascinating conjoining of kinetic and non-kinetic means of achieving victory or stale between warring nations.

We continue our conversation.

References:

The Arcata Summit 13-14 November 2026

War Without a Center: Iran’s Mosaic Defense

Richard J. Samuels Special Duty: A History of the Japanese Intelligence Community

John Llewelyn The Imperial Japanese Army’s Tokumu Kikan – Special Service Organisations: Connections Between Wartime and Peacetime Intelligence Activities

Simon Hall BLINDED BY THE RISING SUN JAPANESE MILITARY INTELLIGENCE FROM THE FIRST SINO-J...

Hybrid warfare Is a can of worms, a fascinating conjoining of kinetic and non-kinetic means of achieving victory or stale between warring nations.

This second episode examines an historical example of what I think is the closest modern hybrid warfare modality in the Japanese Empire in the 1930s leading to WWII; the.Imperial Japanese Army’s Tokumu Kikan – Special Service Organizations that laid the groundwork for this phenomenon in the modern west.

References:

Richard J. Samuels Special Duty: A History of the Japanese Intelligence Community

John Llewelyn The Imperial Japanese Army’s Toku...

Hybrid warfare Is a can of worms, a fascinating conjoining of kinetic and non-kinetic means of achieving victory or stale between warring nations. This first episode tries to lay the ground work of what it is and in the next two episodes we will examine an historical and a contemporary example of hybrid warfare in meat-space.

References:

Report to Congress on Russian Hybrid Warfare in Europe 11 August 2026

The Future of Hybrid Warfare

Hybrid Warfare: How to Escape the Conceptual Gray-Zone

The Evolution of Hybrid Warfare: Implications for Strategy and...

I discuss the possibilities of America relinquishing its global ambition to reduce its footprint to a regional hegemon in the Western hemisphere. The new technologies of AI, UAVs and hypersonics rather easily challenge the spending paradigms and mission architecture of the American armed forces.

There are no near-peer competitors, every nation on Earth is now a peer to modern western war machines.

America boasts a magnificent 20th century war machine is not fit for purpose for 21st century peer warfare.

The crossroads is chock-full of landmines.

References:

Christian Brose...

The US Navy is lost at sea and in the thrall of exquisite platform that be the maritime tombs of tens of thousands of sailors in the coming wars of the 21st century.

The acquisition system is broken beyond repair, burn it down.

The aircraft carrier has been a signature component of US naval power and prestige for more than a century. The utility has continued to diminish since the end of WWII. The tremendous disadvantage of putting so much manpower and treasure into these single use leviathan systems in the modern world of distributed...

I discuss the darker side of celebrating war and the moral injury of wars of choice. Memorial Day is a day of remembrance and an existential wake.

This day is about the ashes of victory and blood lakes of defeat. I show how the American way of war is far more brutal and murderous than the usual suspects let on..

***This episode is not for the squeamish or faint of heart.***

U.S. WAR CRIMES IN THE PHILIPPINES

James M. Scott Rampage: MacArthur, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manila

...

It's been quite some time since I have responded to "mail" so I have curated these questions to address:.

References:

Unauthorized History of the Pacific War Podcast

RAND wish-casting on drones in 2015.

Slaughterbots (2017)

Slaughterbots: if human: kill() (2021)

How are Drones Changing Modern Warfare?

Sun Tzu The Art of War

Carl von Clausewitz On War

Miyamoto Musashi A Book of Five...

I examine the strategic deficit disorder that absolutely dominates the US and western military establishments

I speak to the tools and critical thinking modalities that could spark and encourage competent martial imagination. Moral courage is necessary to tell the flag officer dullards and their Senior Executive Service (SES) necromancers that the emperor has no clothes.

If not, the unblemished record of defeat and stalemate will continue.

I describe some of the reasons I do it and the techniques I employ to get the single most accurate picture of what happened then to determine...

Episode 100!

Well, when I combine the 20 episodes of WarNotes with the CG podcasts but a chance to pop the bubbly anyway.

Today we discuss the critical lack of critical thinking that has led the US into the unenviable position of being an extraordinarily 20th century fighting force nor fit for purpose for 21st century peer combat.

It will get worse.

I'll offer some more recommendations and a path forward.

References:

Richard Feynman Cargo Cult speech at CalTech 1974

RAND wish-casting on drones in 2015.

Slaughterbots (2017)<...

I'll discuss Iran and the grunt math of salvo competition.

Buppert’s Law of Military Topography:

“Mountainous terrain held by riflemen who know what they are about cannot be militarily defeated.”

For other insight on Iran, I recommend CG episodes 061 , 067 and 078.

References:

The Boogeyman of 21st-Century Warfare: Drones

Why the US is facing strategic defeat

Points of Resistance and Departure: An interview with James C. Scott

Lester Grau and Charles J. Bartles Mountain Warfare and Other Lofty Problems: Foreign mountain combat veterans discuss moveme...

With Western conflict in Iran escalating and in train, I discuss the vagaries and verities of the nuclear gambit in Iran in the Middle East and what this will mean to the future of warfare for the reminder of this century.

I assess how the RMAs rapidly displacing centuries-old conflict norms are going to look for the remainder of the century.

Buppert’s Law of Military Topography:

“Mountainous terrain held by riflemen who know what they are about cannot be militarily defeated.”

For other insight on Iran, I recommend CG episodes 061 and 06...

It's been quite some time since I have responded to "mail" so I have curated five questions to address:.

References:

Soryu (16SS) class Attack Submarine - SSK

Robert Gaudi African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918

...

I offer my scorched earth solutions to fighting Antifa and communism in the US..

America is in a Civil War with a major political party and its blacked-shirted paramilitary arm going from cold to hot war.

Prepare accordingly.

Part Four at Episode 075

Part Three at Episode 074

Part Two at Episode 073

Part One at Episode 072.

I did a primer on cell organization in Ep 051 "Cellular Ecology: Guerrilla Organizations and Grunt Math".

References:

House Un-American Activities Committee records, 1945-1975

How They...

I further examine the educational feeder mechanism for communist and terrorist insurgency that is Antifa and its affiliated organizations both governmental and non-government. In this third episode, I examine the pedagogical origins of government supremacist ideology in American schools.

America is in a Civil War with a major political party and its blacked-shirted paramilitary arm going from cold to hot war.

Prepare accordingly.

Part Three at Episode 074

Part Two at Episode 073

Part One at Episode 072.

I did a primer on cell organization in Ep 051 "Cellular Ecology: Guerrilla...

I examine the feeder mechanism for communist and terrorist insurgency that is Antifa and its affiliated organizations both governmental and non-government. In this third episode, we examine the epistemology that created a rump state of communist resistance in America. now.

America is in a Civil War with a major political party and its blacked-shirted paramilitary arm going from cold to hot war.

Prepare accordingly.

Part Two at Episode 73

Part One at Episode 72.

I did a primer on cell organization in Ep 051 "Cellular Ecology: Guerrilla Organizations and Grunt Math".

I examine the domestic communist and terrorist insurgency that is Antifa and its affiliated organizations both governmental and non-government. In this second episode, we examine the history that brought the US to the brink of civil war it is at now.

America is in a Civil War with a major political party and its blacked-shirted paramilitary arm going from cold to hot war.

Prepare accordingly.

Part One at Episode 72.

I did a primer on cell organization in Ep 051 "Cellular Ecology: Guerrilla Organizations and Grunt Math".

References:

House...

I examine the domestic communist and terrorist insurgency that is Antifa and its affiliated organizations both governmental and non-governments;. In this first episode, we shall examine origins, terminology and some expositions on methodology.

America is in a Civil War with a major political party and its blacked-shirted paramilitary arm going from cold to hot war.

Prepare accordingly.

I did a primer on cell organization in Ep 051 "Cellular Ecology: Guerrilla Organizations and Grunt Math".

References:

House Un-American Activities Committee records, 1945-1975

How They Hunt

***

...

This episode examines civil war manifesting itself in the US and the world over the next few years and makes a forecast on how close we are on the doomsday clock of civil war on American soil.

The probability and possibility of civil kinetic conflict in the US is closer than in decades..

My Storming America Series covers the gamut of what a spontaneous attack in the US will look like when terror cells launch a simultaneous attack on the US homeland which in my mind is the primary man-made vector for civil war in...

We examine the emerging Venezuelan kerfuffle.

There are many currents and undercurrents in the latest incipient war debacle in America history. This will be a disaster for America if it clacks off and; expect the American government to make this a preamble to go kinetic on the drug war generally and the following catastrophes.

I covered this in detail in both parts of Ep 059 and 059 "The Mexican Cartel Conundrum: War Without End".

Gird your loins for the first war in American history that will lead to significant foreign-born bad actors making war on...

It's been quite some time since I have responded to "mail" so I have curated five questions to address:.

I'll offer some more recommendations and a path forward.

References:

RAND wish-casting on drones in 2015.

Slaughterbots (2017)

Slaughterbots: if human: kill() (2021)

How are Drones Changing Modern Warfare?

Despite what you are told by the mainstream news sources in the media, the drone war is here to stay and it will be the most significant war modality for the next generation. It has literally exposed all ground troops and the exquisite platforms the West relies upon in war-making for detailed neutralization and destruction.

In concert with the democratized distribution of ubiquitous missile technology, it is the end of Western dominance in warfare.

Despite what you may think, the US conventional forces are in terminal collapse and completely unprepared for 21st century peer conflict.<...

This will be the first CG episode to get the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series. The WarNotes episode catalog has been completely re-fabbed using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth.

Let me know what you think.

We discuss the latest missteps by the West in Iran.

The recent American involvement in direct military intervention in Iran changed the temper and nature of the war inevitably.

I assess how the RMAs rapidly displacing centuries-old conflict norms are going to look for...

This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth.

This episode examines civil war manifesting itself in the world in the west in the 21st century and some of my modest forecasts of war weather in the next few years.

Dr. David Betz and others have started to float the balloons of probability and possibility of civil kinetic conflict in the West.

My Storming America Series covers the gamut of what a...

This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth.

We discuss coups, color revolutions and the changing face of political manipulation in the world.

The world is not what it seems even in non-military political manipulation. The hybrid and grey zone conflict is real. Color revolution have hijacked Western democracy and precipitated he slow decline of modern civilization.

References

Global Instances of Coups from 1950 to 2010: A New Dataset

...

This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth.

Memorial Day is a day to reflect on the existential moral outrage and trail of tears American military might has draped over the planet since the end of the nineteenth century.

Wars of choice are by their very nature a path to corruption, excess and unintended consequences.

The concept of moral injuries for soldiers and non-soldiers alike, the gift of fear and being...

This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth.

Military sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a government effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization, destabilization, division, disruption, or destruction. It can take place left of bang or during war with the object the weakening of the military effort by an adversary.

Military sabotage has been taking place since the early military adventures of men. The apocryphal story of the Trojan Horse...

This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth.

This episode examines American landscape one year later and whether the probability of attack is reduced or increased.

My Storming America Series covers the gamut of what the spontaneous attack in the US will look like when terror cells launch a simultaneous attack on the US homeland.

I cover it in Episodes 37, 41-43 and 49-50 of my Chasing Ghosts podcast.

I...

This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth.

With Western conflict possible in Yemen and Iran, I discuss the vagaries and verities of mountain warfare. The special hell of high altitude and colder temperatures and their effect on fighting and warfare.

I assess how the RMAs rapidly displacing centuries-old conflict norms are going to look for the remainder of the century.

Buppert’s Law of Military Topography:

“Mountainous terrain held...

This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth.

I am an un-credentialed amateur historian who has done very little archive work and lack the substantial infrastructure credentialed historians have to practice their craft. I have debated esteemed historians and won on stage (Daniel Walker Howe looked at my CV and did not prepare) but that doesn't make me better than them.

I think my various detours in life mostly outside the formal academy...

This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth.

Here is Part One:

Ep 058 "The Mexican Cartel Conundrum: War Without End Part One"

We continue the inquiry into the implications and future returns on going kinetic in the drug war as elucidated by worthies in the new administration.

I examine the implications and the second and third order effects of this endeavor which is, by extension, a declaration of war...

Chasing Ghosts is back!

This CG episode got the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series effective 22 June 2025 using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth.

There has been chatter and enthusiasm to use military means to take on the drugs and human trafficking organizations and cartels in Mexico (and I imagine the cartels in the north in Canada), this will not end well.

I examine the implications and the second and third order effects of this endeavor which is, by extension, a declaration of...

I will be pausing Chasing Ghosts from its fortnightly cadence of issuance for the remainder of the year.

I am taking the time to regroup and focus on the new occasional podcast series, WarNotes: A Conflict Podcast as a companion podcast focusing on conventional conflict and strategic thought.

I think the new election results may be the time for the western military complexes to take a knee and refocus and re-calibrate strategic and grand strategic opportunities in addressing the real-time shortfalls in facing Revolutions in Military Affairs (RMA) that are littering the battlefields of the 21...

Mark Booher at Pearl Snap Tactical interviewed me discussing irregular warfare and the threat to the homeland.

We discuss irregular warfare and the impacts of an up-sized catastrophic attack on the US homeland. We riff on and discuss my "Storming America" series (episodes 37, 41-43 and 49-50) on the CG podcast.

The election results don't change the imminent danger but may alter the warp and woof of the probability and timeline of attack.

Pearl Snap Tactical interview can be found here:

https://substack.com/home/post/p-150848439?source=queue

I...

I am the Smedley D. Butler Fellow for Military Affairs at the Libertarian Institute.

They asked me to comment on the recent podcast interview between Ben Shapiro and Niall Ferguson which of course, was a reaction to Darryl Cooper's (Martyrmade Podcast) recent appearance on Tucker Carlson.

I find members of the academic historian cartel (even "right of center" types like Ferguson) are horrified that non-credentialed historical observers are weighing in on the consequences of war in history. I urge everyone to deprogram yourselves and listen to the rogue but right historians like Martyrmade and ProfCJ's...

The trillions dollar fragile American military complex is in big trouble in big war.

It doesn't work.

Robotics and drones are the new "low tech" answer to the First World's exquisite military platforms that are over priced and have the same provenance of battleships planet-wide in January 1942.

Autonomous targeting will become more and more relevant as the speed of munitions increases and the salvo competition costs are driven down.

Hypervelocity munitions are here to stay.

The life of the light infantryman will change significantly since for the first time...

Robotics and drones are the new "low tech" answer to the First World's exquisite military platform that are over priced and have the same provenance of battleships planet-wide in January 1942.

The electronic emissions environment in future conflicts will be a two-way street that will put any active acquisition sensors and attached effectors in the hazards if they emit and remain in one place.

Autonomous targeting will become more and more relevant as the speed of munitions increases and the salvo competition costs are driven down.

Hypervelocity munitions are here to stay.

...

This is an episode to examine what Churchill really did for the West after witnessing the emotional & ahistorical outbursts by the usual suspects after Darryl Cooper from the Martyrmade Podcast appeared on Tucker Carlson on 2 SEP 2024.

I am simply addressing the claims of Churchill as "the chief villain" which I think was hyperbolic (Cooper accedes to this) because I think Churchill was one of many villains during WWII. I am a reluctant Anglophile and I think historical revisionism is a healthy reaction to triumphalist historiography in the West that has made questioning accepted narratives a scholar crime.<...

This is an episode to examine what cell structures look like and the methodologies of guerrillas and insurgents use to conduct clandestine or covert action.

I further discuss traditional, subversive, critical cell and mass-oriented and unconventional cell structures. We visit some historical parallels and why the US and the West may not catch the next wave of terror in America (not cooked up by the clownish FBI like the Whitmer disaster).

References:

How They Hunt

AQ Training Manual

The IRA Greenbook

Hunting the Sleepers

An...